U-M funds sustainability projects at Detroit's Focus: HOPE

By Katie Lund
Graham Sustainability Institute

The Graham Sustainability Institute has selected six faculty-led research projects to join with Focus: HOPE, a nationally recognized civil and human rights organization, on a Detroit community development initiative.

The university-funded projects will incorporate social, economic and environmental strategies to help develop a comprehensive plan for advancing the HOPE Village Initiative, a 100-block area immediately surrounding the Focus: HOPE campus straddling the cities of Detroit and Highland Park.

The initiative seeks to integrate Focus: HOPE's strengths in workforce development, early childhood education and community development.

Each of the six selected U-M projects will receive $25,000 to $30,000 over the next 18 months. The projects and their faculty researchers are:

• Applied Research and Service by Urban Planning Students in the HOPE Village Initiative Area (Eric Dueweke and Margi Dewar, Urban Planning)

• Building a Healthy Community in Detroit: Tracking the Impact of the HOPE Village Initiative (Paul Draus and Juliette Roddy, Public Affairs, UM-Dearborn)

• The Development of a Community Based Coalition to Promote Career and College Preparation in the HOPE Village Neighborhoods of Detroit and Highland Park (John Burkhardt, Jessica Joslin, Jana Castellanos and Victor Andrews, School of Education)

• Mapping Community Economies and Building Capabilities in HOPE Village (Bruce Pietrykowski, Center for Labor and Community Studies, UM-Dearborn; and Roland Zullo, Institute for Research on Labor, Employment and the Economy)

• Play & Grounds (Maria Arquero, Jen Maigret and Craig Borum, Architecture and Urban Planning; Robert Grese, Natural Resources and Environment; and Lorelle Meadows and Aline Cotel, College of Engineering)

"These six projects leverage diverse U-M faculty research to advance sustainability strategies within the HOPE Village area, while also serving as models to advance similar efforts throughout Detroit," says Don Scavia, director of the Graham Institute.

The projects will use an integrated-assessment framework that brings together U-M researchers, Focus: HOPE staff and community stakeholders to address common analytical approaches, data sets, tools and policies to advance decision-making for the HOPE Village Initiative.

Debbie Fisher, director of the HOPE Village Initiative, says that collectively, these projects "will help us to make significant strides toward our overall goal — that 100 percent of those in the HOPE Village Initiative neighborhood in the heart of Detroit will be educationally well-prepared, economically self-sufficient, and living in a safe and supportive environment by the year 2031."

"Sustainability factors including the physical environment, economic development, community health and education are all critical to the success of this important initiative," she says. "A community simply cannot thrive if these factors are not all working together."